海外Ｍ＆Ａ 強い円のメリットも生かそう

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Feb. 26, 2012)
Encourage offshore M&As that utilize yen's strength
海外Ｍ＆Ａ　強い円のメリットも生かそう（2月25日付・読売社説）

Taking advantage of the strong yen, an increasing number of Japanese companies have been boosting their overseas acquisitions.
　「強い円」を武器に、日本企業が海外企業の買収を加速させている。

According to data recently released by Thompson Reuters, a major U.S. corporate information service company, the number of offshore mergers and acquisitions conducted by Japanese firms in 2011 was up a record 20 percent from the previous year. The total value of such deals rose 80 percent, also an all-time high.
　米調査会社トムソン・ロイターの集計では、日本企業による海外企業のＭ＆Ａ（合併・買収）は昨年、件数で前年比２割増、金額では８割増と大幅に伸び、ともに過去最高を更新した。

Because of low growth due to the stagnant domestic economy and years of deflation, Japanese companies tend to operate defensively. The growing trend for Japanese firms to go on the offensive by venturing offshore is definitely welcome.
　低成長とデフレで、日本企業の多くは「守りの経営」に閉じこもりがちだ。反転攻勢の機運が高まってきたことを歓迎したい。

If Japanese businesses can bring their overseas profits into this country, thereby leveraging their newly expanded overseas businesses to promote growth in the domestic economy and higher employment, they will surely help reinvigorate the national economy.
　海外で稼いだ利益を国内に還流させ、新たな事業展開をテコに成長と雇用増加につなげれば、経済の活性化に役立つだろう。

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Buyouts spreading to Asia

The total value of Japanese companies' foreign M&As in 2011 was about 70 billion dollars (about 5.5 trillion yen).
　昨年の対外Ｍ＆Ａの総額は約７００億ドルで、円換算で約５・５兆円だ。

In 2008, the value of overseas corporate buyouts by Japanese firms was much the same in dollar terms as in 2011, but was worth about 7 trillion yen when converted into the Japanese currency.
ドルベースでは２００８年もほぼ同水準だったが、円に換算すると約７兆円だ。

This means the costs of overseas M&As have fallen remarkably thanks to the strength of the yen. We can safely say hyperappreciation of the yen spurs the expansion of Japanese firms spending capital offshore.
　円高によって、投資負担が大きく軽減されたことになる。超円高は、対外投資の拡大にとって追い風といえる。

Although the sharp uptrend in the yen's strength seems to be pausing for the moment, Japan's currency remains at a historically high level. We hope Japanese companies stay on the offensive in their outbound M&A deals.
　このところ、円相場の急騰は一服しているが、なお歴史的な円高水準にある。企業には、攻めのＭ＆Ａを期待したい。

Especially conspicuous among purchases of foreign firms by Japanese companies are large-scale deals by firms that were previously considered stay-at-home businesses, such as food processing companies. This is prompted by fears of a shrinking domestic market because of the nation's declining population.
　海外企業の買収は、食品などの内需型産業で大型案件が目立つ。人口の減少で国内市場の縮小が懸念されているためだ。

Japanese firms have mainly sought foreign acquisitions in the United States and Europe, but they are becoming more active in China and other Asian countries. This reflects Japanese companies' strategy of expanding their businesses in emerging countries with high growth potential.
　欧米が中心舞台だったＭ＆Ａが、中国などアジアでも活発になってきた。成長が続く新興国でのビジネス拡大が狙いだろう。

It is also noteworthy that major trading houses have been moving to boost their capital spending offshore, to secure resource development rights in anticipation of resources development projects becoming more profitable due to soaring prices of natural resources.
　資源高による収益を見込み、大手商社が資源権益の拡大を図る動きも活発化している。

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Bubble's bitter lessons

Japanese companies, however, should be scrupulous enough not to be overly optimistic when making outbound investments because they do not want to miss opportunities.
　ただし好機を逃すまいとして、投資判断が甘くなるのは禁物である。

They should bear in mind that many Japanese companies during the high- growth days of the bubble economy suffered huge debacles in their overseas investments, including property deals.
多くの日本企業がバブル期、海外の不動産投資などで大失敗した教訓を忘れてはならない。

It is vital for Japanese companies to scrutinize the actual financial conditions and business prospects of foreign firms they are planning to buy out.
　投資対象とする企業の経営実態や将来性などを、しっかり“目利き”することが重要だ。

The capabilities of financial institutions that advise Japanese firms in their offshore capital investments are being tested in this respect.
　Ｍ＆Ａを仲介・助言する金融機関の力量も問われよう。

A stronger yen has such negative aspects as raising prices of export goods and resultant drops in sales competitiveness.
　円高には、輸出品の価格上昇などによって国際競争力を低下させる負の側面もある。

Especially worrying in this connection is that an increasing number of Japanese companies, in particular such export industries as electric machinery and automobiles, have been shifting their production bases overseas, threatening to accelerate the hollowing-out of domestic industries.
懸念されるのは、電機や自動車など輸出産業を中心に、生産拠点を海外に移転する産業空洞化が進むことだ。

If Japanese companies' M&As are mainly an attempt to flee from the impact of a strong yen, their capital deals overseas could plunge into a vicious circle that further darkens already stagnant domestic business activity.
　海外Ｍ＆Ａの主流が、円高の打撃をかわすための「逃避型」になれば、国内の経済活動が停滞する悪循環に陥りかねない。

In another move worthy of note, Toshiba Corp. and Sony Corp. have applied for loans from a government-backed "emergency fund to cope with the yen's appreciation" that was created last autumn to support Japanese firms' M&A operations abroad.
　政府が昨秋、対外Ｍ＆Ａを後押しするため設けた「円高対応緊急基金」の活用に、東芝とソニーが名乗りを上げた。

The government and the private sector should continue to jointly propel growth in the national economy through outbound M&A deals.
今後も官民が連携し、Ｍ＆Ａによる成長戦略を推進する必要がある。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Feb. 25, 2012)
（2012年2月25日01時17分 読売新聞）